This invention relates generally to online consumer products search and particular to interactive online content-based image search and retrieval of clothes in online stores.
Online clothing shopping is becoming an increasingly popular shopping model. In many online shopping web sites, customers can search for clothing using keywords, such as by such as “black, sleeveless cocktail dress.” These searches typically provide a set of search results to the user based on the keywords of the search and keywords associated with clothing at the online shopping website.
However, this search limits the user to keywords the user may consider, and often requires the user to sort through many search results to find an item of interest to the user. Fashion is a highly visual art, and the conversion of a fashionable look into keywords frequently misses characteristics of a desired look. Moreover, a user frequently wants to find clothing similar to a picture seen by the user or to a scene or person the user is viewing in person. Thus, there is a need for a system that is capable of identifying similar clothing based on a photo.